It comes after recent research revealed that a third of Britons would be willing to do jail time to protect a loved one, with over half admitting they would lie to the police to help their friends.

The experiment was filmed to mark the new US legal drama series How To Get Away With Murder, which premieres on the Universal Channel tonight at 10pm.

When it comes to protecting loved ones, people are most likely to break the law for their children (42%), closely followed by their partner (27%) and their parents (13%).

(Image: Youtube / UniversalChannelUK)

The research shows that men are more likely than women to protect their spouse, with 32% prepared to break the law for their partner compared to 21% of women.

Emma Kenny, behavioural psychologist, said: "Human beings have an extremely powerful instinct to protect the people they love from threats and dangerous situations; this is particularly prevalent in parents who have a unique maternal or paternal instinct to protect their children.

"We all like to think of ourselves as law abiding citizens but this research shows how more than a quarter of us are breaking the law because we know we can get away with it.

"In today's society, the lines seem to have become blurred with some Brits seeing petty crimes as completely justifiable."